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> I do. And I have. Although I speak for only one technologist. Same here. I'm a programmer, and my goal is to delay phones for my kids until the last possible

> I do. And I have. Although I speak for only one technologist. Same here. I'm a programmer, and my goal is to delay phones for my kids until the last possible hour. My kids spend time drawing, doing sports, reading books, swimming, playing with friends and animals. Phones and devices are like digital crack for kids, and they prefer to keep hitting that lever over any of these other activities when the option is there.

skyde 5y ago
very interesting. For my kid (4 years old) I made sure to only install app that are not "crack". Not all apps are bad (I agree 95% of them are). You can just look at "https://marbotic.com/ https://marbotic.com/" for example, it's not worse than having your kid play scrabble or chess. If somehow you kid get addicted to it then after they played all the level they will be able to read write and do math at the 3rd grade level :)
djhn 5y ago
What age have they reached without tech and what's your best case scenario looking like?
- elevaet 5y ago
  They're not being raised without tech at all, they just don't have their own devices, or any open access to one. Their screen time is limited to a small amount of passive consumption per week (2 * 1/2hr episodes on Netflix per week, or a movie), and engaged or creative use of a tablet for about 2h/week. Lately that's been drawing tutorials on youtube, duolingo, wordle. We're pushing off allowing them to have their own phones for as long as possible. We're friends with a lot of families with the same approach, but also a lot of friends of my older (10yo) kid do have phones already. At some point it will be very difficult when they start getting left out of the party (so to speak). My best case scenario is that the extra time this frees up will give them the space in their lives to grow talents and health that they wouldn't otherwise. I'm much happier to see my sons getting really good at pencil drawing and playing soccer than having a social media profile or being good at some video game. I feel having a really healthy body and some old school analogue skills like drawing will carry them further than whatever general digital distractions have to offer.
  - djhn 5y ago
    Thanks, this is very interesting for a soon-to-be parent.
fortylove 5y ago
We're taking a different approach, where we teach limits on tech. TV is not inherently bad if the right content is played for the right amount of time. Phones are not inherently bad if used for the right activity for the right amount of time. Evening gaming is not inherently bad, if used for the right amount of time. Yeah, we don't want to raise a phone zombie. But I believe you can do that without totally shielding them from tech. edit: a word

skyde 5y ago

very interesting. For my kid (4 years old) I made sure to only install app that are not "crack". Not all apps are bad (I agree 95% of them are). You can just look at "https://marbotic.com/ https://marbotic.com/" for example, it's not worse than having your kid play scrabble or chess. If somehow you kid get addicted to it then after they played all the level they will be able to read write and do math at the 3rd grade level :)

djhn 5y ago

What age have they reached without tech and what's your best case scenario looking like?

elevaet 5y ago
They're not being raised without tech at all, they just don't have their own devices, or any open access to one. Their screen time is limited to a small amount of passive consumption per week (2 * 1/2hr episodes on Netflix per week, or a movie), and engaged or creative use of a tablet for about 2h/week. Lately that's been drawing tutorials on youtube, duolingo, wordle. We're pushing off allowing them to have their own phones for as long as possible. We're friends with a lot of families with the same approach, but also a lot of friends of my older (10yo) kid do have phones already. At some point it will be very difficult when they start getting left out of the party (so to speak). My best case scenario is that the extra time this frees up will give them the space in their lives to grow talents and health that they wouldn't otherwise. I'm much happier to see my sons getting really good at pencil drawing and playing soccer than having a social media profile or being good at some video game. I feel having a really healthy body and some old school analogue skills like drawing will carry them further than whatever general digital distractions have to offer.
- djhn 5y ago
  Thanks, this is very interesting for a soon-to-be parent.

fortylove 5y ago

We're taking a different approach, where we teach limits on tech. TV is not inherently bad if the right content is played for the right amount of time. Phones are not inherently bad if used for the right activity for the right amount of time. Evening gaming is not inherently bad, if used for the right amount of time. Yeah, we don't want to raise a phone zombie. But I believe you can do that without totally shielding them from tech. edit: a word